The Geography

The Republic of the Gambia is a
located on the Atlantic coast of Africa, between latitudes 13oN
and 14oN and Longitude 14oW and 17oW.
Occupying a total area of 11420 sq km, the Gambia consists of two
narrow strips of land 6 to 26 km wide extending 320 km east along the
banks of the River Gambia. The Republic of Senegal is the Gambia’s only
neighbor. Occupying an area 20 times the size of the Gambia, Senegal
surrounds the Gambia on north, east and south. Until late 19th
Century there was no Gambia or Senegal and present day Senegambia was
settled by a number of West African Kingdoms.

The Gambia and Senegal went
their separate ways as British and French colonies in late 19th
century. Shortly before Gambia’s independence in 1965, the idea to
re-unify Gambia and Senegal was floated around for fear of Gambia not
being a viable state. This was quickly dropped for lack of support on
both sides. After independence, the Gambia became a member of several
regional and global organizations including United Nations in 1965 and
the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS in 1973.